Victory
by NavigateSafe
Summary: Reaping Day. District 8. One-shot.


Delphinium knew from the moment she had awoken that morning that something was different. Of course, it was reaping day. Slowly, she rose, soaking in the suffocatingly still air. Panic had a taste, and district anxiety was splashed across her tongue. At least the entire District had that in common. Eight, and every other district, too.

Nobody was safe from the games.

Her bare feet made shivers run up her spine as they came in contact with the cold floor. Her younger sister's sleeping breaths were stirring the air softly, small twirls of dust dancing in the morning sunbeams filtering through the window. Delphinium was nearly always the first awake in her house. She could hear her parents starting to stir downstairs, and decided that the sooner she got out of bed, the sooner this nightmare was over with. (It never really was over, though. The Games had the immense ability to stay with you every day of the year. It was never over. It was never finished. The Games would never set the districts free.)

With a light hum, Del lifted the blankets away from her body, standing in a fluid motion and making her way quietly across their shared room to the chest. Once every year, the Ridiris family dug out the fancier dresses and suit jackets. She smiled fondly at her father's necktie. Her little sister, Carolynn, had made it for him, giving her father the gift of a mismatched jumble of ribbons sewn together into a tie. She was so proud of it. He wore it every year since, without fail. Along with the tie, she picked up her mother's dress, and her father's nice suit jacket, folding them and sweeping out of the room.

Delphinium paused at the top of the stairs, inhaling a fresh breath of air, tinged with morning dew and the bitterness of the morning to come. Ever since she could remember, it was always her job to bring down her parents reaping day clothes and set them down on the chair just outside their room. Without fail, Delphinium brought them down every year, and this year would be no different. Completing her job, Del walked back up the stairs, and paused in the doorway to find Carolynn's sleepy form sitting up in bed.

"Up and at 'em, Care," she grinned softly, striding across the room and removing her own dress from the chest. It was white, and slightly off-white in places. It had a fitted torso, and a slight flowing train, the hem brushing the tips of her kneecaps. Her sister wore a light blue dress, youthful and perfect with her sandy blonde hair. The sisters always helped each other get ready.

"Best of luck, little sapling."

#

Breakfast was a rushed affair. Nobody had the heart to eat.

#

She swallowed thickly, shifting her weight as all the girls gathered on one side of the town center. Being 17, this was Delphinium's second to last reaping, but this was only Carolynn's second one. She chewed the inside of her lip with worry. Many girls she knew from school were standing with her. They were looking like they were trying not to cry, or scream, or both. Del didn't feel like crying. She was too worried to really do anything but stand there and _be_ worried.

Her blue eyes snapped to the podium when the Mayor started his speech. She doubted anyone listened to the man drone on and on about it, anyhow. For a moment, she pitied him, before the coming announcement kept her bouncing on her toes.

"Will ya knock it off?" the girl next to her hissed, lightly. Immediately, Del stilled, biting her lip apologetically. She went to school with the girl, they were in the same classes, mostly. Delphinium didn't talk to her much, and any fact other than her name was unknown to her.

_"Best of luck, little sapling."_ Her parting words that morning echoed in her head, as she found the back of her sister's head in the crowd in front of her. Carolynn had, what, two slips in the bowl? Two out of hundreds. The odds were certainly in her favor, yet children with less had been picked. Children with only one slip had been sent to their deaths, while children with 40 ran free.

It was an unjust system. But then again, so, too, were the games.

She held her breath, waiting for the mayor to call her sister's name. His hand moved around in the bowl for what seemed like ages, and the world slowed down as the name rolled off his lips. So nonchalant. He just sent a child to her death, and was going to send another one in the span of two minutes.

It hadn't been her. Relief washed over her like a desert soaking up a tropical storm. She almost wanted to laugh aloud. But she stopped herself. There was still a girl standing on that stage. There was still a girl that nobody would volunteer for. The notion almost took her breath away. Her fingers clenched into fists, angry at the capitol now that her worry had been swept away, leaving room for other emotions. It wasn't fair. It was genius, though. What better way to control people than to kill 24 of their children every year? Not much, other than starving them all to submission, but let's face it. They already do that, too.

When the crowds parted, Delphinium swept Carolynn up in her arms, squeezing tightly. They had been saved this year, one more tally up on the wall.

And it wasn't until that moment, that Del realized her name had been in the bowl, too. And though neither of them were called, she watched the two tributes walk off the stage. They may not have been picked, a victory for the Ridiris girls, surviving one more year.

It was a hollow victory.


End file.
